


Second Button From The Top

by Cynorca



Category: Free!
Genre: Established Relationship, I got the idea from Free! Starting Days, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Or something that look like that, Unbeta-ed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 11:06:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8748127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cynorca/pseuds/Cynorca
Summary: It's a little too late to ask, but why not?(a.k.a, MakoRin being grossly romantic with each other over uniform buttons)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I got the idea from watching Free! Starting Days and some 'what-if' imaginations lol.
> 
> Please bear the messy grammar :""""D

It happens quiet later after his graduation from junior high school.

It's the same spring as Makoto's graduation day from his college. Rin finally has come back from Australia and going to stay with him in Tokyo soon, sharing room as he settles down as a coach in a junior swimming club in Tokyo, and Rin builds his carrier as a professional athlete.

Today probably will be the last time Makoto visits his old bedroom in his parents' house before the said room permanently given to Ren. So he spends the day with Rin, sorting stuffs that he wants to keep from the others which are going to be donated, throwed away, or moved to the attic.

Rin is looking at his photo albums while Makoto finds his old Digivice from a box under his bed (he wonders if Haruka still got his, this thing was so cool back then) when Rin calls his name. His eyes not moving from a certain photo in the album.

"Makoto."

"Yes, Rin?" Makoto turns his gaze from Digivice on his hand to the direction where Rin's stare ends; a photograph where he smiles to the camera with Kisumi, Haruka, Asahi, and Ikuya in a certain spring day years ago. Graduation scroll on right hand as his left one drags Haruka to his side.

"Oh, that's nostalgic." Comments Makoto. "They are my relay team members in junior high school. Except Kisumi of course."

"Do you still have it?" Asks Rin vague.

"My graduation scroll? Umm, no. Thrown away to the pool 3 hours after th—"

"Not the scroll, dummy. _The uniform_." Rin rolls his eyes and chuckles.

"Oh. The _gakuran_? Yeah." Makoto drags another box under his bed. "Mom supposed to keep it here...."

Makoto is right. The box is filled with a pile full of his old clothes, including his junior high school uniform.

"Why'd you ask, anyway?" Makoto turns his head to Rin, and ends up dumbfounded as he sees his boyfriend looks embarassed.

"Umm, Rin...?"

Rin's voice only sounds like a fast murmur when he says something, face totally red, "c-canIhavethat?"

Makoto blinks twice. What's that supposed to be mean anyway? He doesn't want to judge someone's fetish, especially if it's his boyfriend’s, but he can't help but ask. "What do you wanna do with my old uniform...?"

Rin, as expected when he's angry or embarassed or when Makoto is occasionally slow, turns violent and hits his shoulder with the nearest object from his right hand; an outdated game magazine (actually, there’s a heavy photo album even nearer but hitting Makoto with the album might result in unwanted damage Rin doesn't intend to do).

"Ouch—hey, that hurts!" Makoto protests while rubs his right shoulder.

"Not the entire uniform, idiot." Rin raises his voice, face as red as tomato yet still trying to maintain his cool, if there's any of that left. " _T-the second but_ —ugh, never mind. Forget it. Let's finish this so we can go eat somewhere—what the fuck is wrong with your face?"

Too late. Makoto's expression already transforms into a mix of embarassment _and_ the one he makes at cats videos.

He sighs, "Rin, that's so...."

_Sweet? Cute? Helplessly and idiotically romantic?_

Rin doesn't know and doesn't want to know as he slaps Makoto's nose with the same magazine he used a minute ago.

"Ouch!! That's unneeded, you know."

"I. Said. For. Get. It."

Makoto closes his mouth, maybe embarassed but most likely pained on his nose from getting smacked. " _But it's so cu_ —eeek!! Okay, okay, I won't say anything!"

Rin is already on the way of raising his hand for another critical hit but finally decides to lay it down again.

"You're so mean...." complaints Makoto.

"You're the one who start it."

"Eh, it's my fault?!"

"...."

Makoto stares at Rin's annoyed face, now back to concentrate on putting out his stuff from the one box he's working on earlier. Makoto breathes out a smile and takes his scissors and his old _gakuran_ , cuts the stitch of one of the buttons, second row from the top.

_The one that is nearest from the heart._

"Rin." Calls Makoto out.

"Wha—huh?"

Rin stares right to Makoto's palm, where a lone button lay there. He moves his eyes to Makoto's face that smiles gently and looks so stupid _and_ adorable.

Rin pouts, "I don't want it anymore."

"Eh?!"

His pout stays for two seconds before turns into a grin, "it's always mine anyway."

But after Makoto hands down the button to Rin, he works on the other buttons of his _gakuran_ , cutting the thread that holds the buttons to the cloth. He gathers every single one until his _gakuran_ is button-free before pushes all of them to Rin's confused face.

"It's not just the second button that belongs to you." He says, surprisingly calm."And it's not just the ones on the _gakuran_. They are all yours, _always_."

If he’s Haruka, he might cringe so hard and dismish their friendship right at the moment. But Rin is always helplessly, idiotically the romantic one. He looks dumbfounded in one second before the pupil in his eyes gets smaller and everything clicks.

The romantic gestures one after another maybe are just too much too handle, and Makoto's calm and gentle face turns horror when Rin’s eyes avoids his face and turns to his bedroom floor and...

...Sobs.

"Huh, you're crying...?!"

"S-Shut up, idiot! Makoto dummy! Moron! Stupid coach! Cheesy whale—"

Maybe Rin's forgot that he's the one who blurts seventy percent of cheesy, romantic pick-up lines in years of their dating.

"Can I take that as a _yes_ , then?" Asks Makoto, face looks so smug for Rin and Rin really hates the way Makoto gets the upper hand of the situation by simply playing all Rin's cards with additional sunshine-quality smile and calm yet happy voice.

Makoto takes Rin's palm and place all the buttons before closes the palm again. "Let's find a ring at Isetan after we get back to Tokyo."

Rin still looks unreasonably angry, but Makoto still smiles widely like Rin is giving him his loudest _yes_.

"I won't help you when you talk to my mom."

"Yes, yes."

"I pick the ring."

"Yes, yes."

"I will choose the most expensive one."

"...err—"

And Rin laughs. And Makoto wants to kiss him. And he starts to regret doing this in his room where privacy is never guaranteed. But soon they will back to their flat in Tokyo. He can buy a ring. And he can propose to Rin, much better than with a bunch of _gakuran_ buttons, on one bended-knee if needed because he know Rin will get angry and embarassed and cry yet _love_ it.

"Let's get done with our work here."

"Yep."

"By the way, Makoto. Isn't the last button even nearer to your crotch?"

Makoto chokes.

 

*

 

Rin is helplessly, idiotically romantic.

A few days later, as they wait silently for the train that will take them to the airport, Rin suddenly takes out something from his pocket. A very small sack that can't be bigger than his palm.

"Hey, Makoto."

"Yes, Rin?"

Rin pulls Makoto's palm and places the small sack on top of it. "Your share."

Makoto stares at the small sacks that looks even more tiny on his wide palm. "Huh, what is this?"

He disentangled the small ribbon which tightly knot the sack, whatever inside the sack is uneven and must be at least a dozen in number. He pours whatever the small things to his palm and he finds...

_...Buttons._

In various shapes, sizes, and colors.

Makoto turns his head to Rin. "Eeh? What are these...?"

"I don't wear _gakuran_ in my junior high school at Australia." Says Rin. "And Samezuka's uniform is buttoned with zipper... so, err..."

The rest of the sentence comes in a low murmur. "They are all the second buttons of every shirts and blazers I ever wear since I can remem— _Makoto, are you okay?_ "

Makoto squats down. Palms closing tightly at the sack and its buttons, sighs heavily."I really need to kiss you right now."

Rin chuckles.

"Well, hold it until we're back to our flat."

Makoto whines.

"A hug won't look too suspicious?" Suggest Rin. Half of his body bows down to see Makoto's face.

Makoto stares at him, and finally gets up and rests his face on Rin's shoulder, one hand rests on Rin's backpack and the other's on his soft red hair.

He inhales the smell of Rin's deeply.

It feels like home already.

 

*

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> The second button from the top of a male's uniform is often given away to a female he is in love with, and is considered a way of confession. The second button is the one closest to the heart and is said to contain the emotions from all three years attendance at the school. This practice was apparently made popular by a scene in a novel by Taijun Takeda (Wikipedia)


End file.
